Toledo only lies 70 kilometers south of Madrid, but it feels a world away. On its rocky perch nestled in a bend of the Río Tajo (Tagus River), Toledo abounds with monuments that preserve the city’s rich cultural history. In fact, the whole city was declared a national monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is known as the “City of Three Cultures” for its Jewish, Muslim, and Christian history. Add in the Roman and Visigothic times and the city has been shaped by over 2,500 years of history and culture.

At one time Toledo was the capital of Spain and its peak was in the 1500s when Spain was in its Golden Age. Toledo was the center of political and religious power, as well as a cultural center home to the famous artist El Greco. However, Toledo’s fortunes took a turn when Philip II decided in 1561 to move the capital to a small town north of Toledo called Madrid. This marked the start of a slow decline for Toledo, although in a way it ultimately helped preserve its character and culture. The medieval structures were never rebuilt and today stepping into the walled city feels like a step back in time. There is a lot to see in Toledo, both in visiting the various monuments and just wandering the narrow lanes to soak in the atmosphere. We easily could have spent two days exploring the city, but we made due with our day trip and felt we got a good taste of what Toledo had to offer.

Our main priority was to see the grand Gothic cathedral Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo, commonly referred to as the Toledo Cathedral. I had booked tickets for the first time slot at 10 am and I chose a train that would get us there early enough we would have enough time to leisurely walk from the train station to the main square, grab breakfast if we wanted it, and to wander the streets a little in the quiet of the morning. It is only a 30 minute train ride, so it wasn’t hard to get to Toledo early. We stepped off the train and into a beautiful train station built in the Neo-Mudéjar style. The current station opened in 1919 and was designed to echo the historic architecture of the city. I was impressed that even the train station was a gorgeous building.

A lot is said about how hilly Toledo is and recommendations to take a taxi or bus from the train station to the center of the city, but we figured we would just walk - it wasn’t that far, it was a beautiful morning, and we wanted to walk across Puente de Alcántara into the city. This arch bridge was built by the Romans after they founded the city and was one of the only bridges that gave access to the city in the Middle Ages. The bridge has been damaged, rebuilt, and renovated throughout the ages and today the east side of the bridge retains the 10th century Gate of Alcántara - a gate of Arabic origin (Alcántara comes from an Arabic word meaning “arch”) - and other contributions from the Christian period. From the bridge we took the most direct route into the city according to Google Maps (there are escalators into the city, but we didn’t bother to find them). Immediately we encountered a keyhole arch, a signature of Mudéjar architecture. Mudéjars were Muslims who remained in Spain after the Christian reconquest and Mudéjar architecture is a Moorish style the Muslim craftsmen (and also Christian craftsmen) built for Christian clients. Toledo lies between the Moorish-flavored south and the Christian north and a mix of architecture styles can be found there.

Plaza de Zocodover has been the center of activity in Toledo for most of its history and is a central hub today. The Rick Steves book has a self-guided Toledo walk that leaves from here and we made this our first stop to get our bearings. The main street from Plaza Zocodover to the cathedral is Calle del Comercio and we set off this way. In the Middle Ages Toledo had the best steel, created with knowledge that came with the Muslim craftsmen from the Middle East and today the stores are full of knives and all sorts of medieval armory as souvenirs. We were taking a look at the window displays when three young guys went flying by us - initially we thought they were just messing around, but it turns out two of them stole a backpack from the other who was giving chase. There was a fight and a police arrest - definitely some excitement in the otherwise quiet morning. We popped into a small restaurant for breakfast and then continued on our way to the cathedral.

We arrived in Plaza del Ayuntamiento where the Toledo Cathedral is located. Before our time slot we took a few pictures by the Archbishop’s Palace of Toledo and the Puerta del Perdón (Portal of Forgiveness). The cathedral is one of three 13th century Gothic cathedrals in Spain. It was begun in 1226 under the rule of Ferdinand III and was finally completed in 1493 during the time of the Catholic Monarchs. But the history of worship on this site goes back much further. First there was a small church for the Visigoth Christians and then in 711 Islamic Moors conquered the city, tore down the church, and built a mosque in its place. Over 350 years later Toledo was reconquered in 1085 and Christians began using the mosque for their services. In 1226 the structure was replaced by the construction of the current cathedral. Because the cathedral follows the footprint of the earlier mosque, its dimensions aren’t typical of a Gothic cathedral.

The outside of the cathedral doesn’t do justice to what you find when you step inside. And there is a lot to see. We used the Rick Steves self-guided tour to help guide us through the cathedral. One of the main features is the five story Gothic altarpiece, one of the most stunning in Spain. The high altar is eighty feet tall and made of real gold on wood. It took twenty-seven artists seven years to complete the masterpiece. There is another striking altarpiece called El Transparente that is of Baroque design and further enhanced by a large skylight providing illumination. There is an impressive monstrance made of silver, gold, and gems that stands over ten feet tall (it’s used in the annual feast of Corpus Christi of Toledo) and a collection of paintings in the sacristy that are museum worthy, the most famous being El Expolio (The Disrobing of Christ) by El Greco and also including paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, and Velázquez. Everywhere we looked there were beautiful details to take in and we enjoyed our time spent wandering around the cathedral.

Back in Plaza del Ayuntamiento, we walked up the narrow lane by City Hall and passed under an arch and onto Calle del Ángel. Nearby was the original branch of the Santo Tomé mazapán shop - of course we had to pop in to sample the local marzipan. We continued down the narrow, interesting Calle del Ángel to the Monastery of San Juan de Los Reyes, an Isabelline style Franciscan monastery built between 1477 and 1504. The monastery was founded by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabelle 1 of Castille to commemorate the birth of their son and their victory at the Battle of Toro (1476). The chapel was the intended burial site of the Catholic Monarchs, but their bodies were instead buried in Granada. The monastery went through a period of damage thanks to Napoleon’s troops during the occupation of Toledo and abandonment. Restoration occurred between 1883 and 1967.

The monastery is much smaller than the Toledo Cathedral and doesn’t take too long to visit. The Toledo Cathedral is a hard act to follow, yet we still found the Monastery of San Juan de Los Reyes to be lovely with some beautiful details. We first visited the chapel, adorned with an altarpiece from the former Santa Cruz Hospital and intricate carvings of the Catholic Monarchs’ coats of arms held by eagles. We exited to the cloister and went to the second level. The upper cloisters contain some Mudéjar details and interesting gargoyles and from here we accessed the balcony to the chapel, which gave us a nice vantage point of the space.

At this point we were close again to the Tagus River and took the opportunity to walk over Puente de San Martín, another medieval bridge built in the late 14th century. The bridge features five arches, towers on either end, and some nice views of the Tagus River and cliffs. We retraced our steps to the monastery and continued down the street to the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca. Details of the origins and construction of the synagogue have been lost to history, but it is believed that it is the Great Synagogue built in the Jewish quarter at the end of the 12th century. It has an unusual floorplan - an irregular quadrilateral that inside is divided into five aisles - which may indicate it was built on the foundation of a prior building. As a result of the pogroms of 1391, the synagogue was sacked and eventually was sanctioned as a church with the name Santa María la Blanca in the early 15th century. Over time the building was used as military barracks, a warehouse, and a dancehall. It was eventually restored and declared a National monument in 1930.

The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca is small, yet it is striking in its Mudéjar design. Elements of the architecture are typical of Almohad art (late medieval Castilian) and others are associated with the decorative style of Nasrid architecture (the kingdom of Granada). The space is divided into five naves separated by horseshoe arches on octagonal pillars with nature and geometric themed carvings. Overall all the details combine for a straightforward, yet beautiful effect.

By this time we were getting hungry and were ready for lunch. We decided we could quickly pop into Santo Tomé to see El Greco’s masterpiece since it was close to our lunch spot Lo Nuestro Taperia. But we got sidetracked when we saw the most charming ceramics store, Ceramica J Serrano, and had to go in. We were enjoying looking at the ceramics and then a shop worker directed us downstairs. Turns out the upstairs was just a little taste of everything they had - there were so many pieces and designs downstairs. After oohing and aahing over everything and resisting the temptation to buy it all, we again headed to Santo Tomé. Santo Tomé is a small, unremarkable chapel that would not warrant a visit except for El Greco’s painting. Count Orgaz, the mayor of Toledo, died and was buried in this chapel in 1323. More than 250 years later a priest hired El Greco in 1586 to make a painting of his burial. The result was one of El Greco’s most celebrated works titled The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. It kind of reminded me of seeing Monet’s Water Lilies in Musée de l'Orangerie - paintings that were created for a specific space and still remain there today.

With that done, we finally made it to lunch at Lo Nuestro Taperia. I was happy to try a local dish of pork stew called carcamusas (delicious!). And of course we had the dessert of Toledo, mazapán. After lunch we spent some time wandering the streets and checking out the shops. Similar to how Toledo is known for its steel, it also is the center for damascene; a handcraft technique that inlays gold and silver into steel. The technique originated in Damascus, Syria and was brought to Spain in 711 during the Moorish conquest. Patterns are cut into steel that has been chemically treated to create porosity and a chisel and hammer are used to inlay the gold or silver into these grooves. A bluing compound is used to blacken the steel and allow the gold or silver to really shine. We saw so many beautiful plates, jewelry, and other pieces - it was hard to pick something out. I eventually settled on a tiny plate with a golden bird and flowers and a pair of earrings with silver designs (Norah also got earrings). Cool souvenirs!

We had plenty of time before our train and the afternoon was looking nice (no rain), so we decided to visit Mirador del Valle. There are several ways to get there (taxi, tourist train, bus) but we chose to walk there. It’s around a mile and several hundred feet elevation gain - it’s a pleasant walk and there is a sidewalk/path the whole way. The viewpoint has a beautiful panoramic view of Toledo and the surrounding valley, similar to El Greco’s painting Vista de Toledo (View of Toledo). This was a great spot and we are glad we were able to make it there.

After returning to the city center from Mirador del Valle, we still had some time before our train, so we visited the shops around Plaza Zocodover, popped into a tavern for a cold drink, and stopped at the large Santo Tomé store on the plaza for a final sampling of Toledo mazapán. We walked back to the train station and had a short ride back to Madrid. We hopped on the metro at the train station and went to Gran Via to have dinner at Vinitus. This was a delicious meal - there were many dishes we wanted to try but settled on the mixed fried fish platter, crispy camembert, grilled asparagus and mushrooms, and a bacon and brie baguette. I had read about torrija quemada de Santa Teresa (Spanish French toast) and was happy to get to try it for dessert - it was also delicious. Overall, it was a fantastic day!